The call for submissions for issue 43.2 is now open! Our editorial team for this issue is Jessica Johns, Kayi Wong, and Mica Lemiski. Here is a weird and wonderful Q&A with the team, which delves into the kind of writing we’re looking to include in the issue and our personal remedies for getting through writer’s block. Submit your brilliant and best stuff! The call for submissions is open until October 31st (spooky, right?).
Reading Room
“Dazzle Camouflage” is the honourable mention for Room's Creative Non-Fiction Contest 2019. Here's what the judge, Terese Marie Mailhot, has to say about the essay: “‘Dazzle Camouflage’ was full of beautiful language and the depth of the work was wonderful to sit with. It was personal and cerebral and the voice within the work felt poetic and full. What does it mean to inhabit an identity or be part of a larger community and shared history? It’s a beautiful essay looking closely at the self.”
/let it out/
they tear
through my
rawing throat,
saliva & blood
bubbling out
Ladies and gentlemen, please.
Thank you, thank you—yes, the magic
tonight was real.
A gargoyle sits at the end of my garden, a plastic resin Mother’s Day present, wrapped with charms of love and my children’s perspicacity. Her name is Marthe and her job is protection. Most of all, she is to guard me and mine from the dragon.
“Pieces of Me” is the honourable mention of Room’s 2019 Fiction Contest as selected by judge Catherine Hernandez.
Currently on Newsstands
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Room 42.2, Borderlands
Edited by Rebecca RussellIn this issue:
Selina Boan, Jenna Butler, Leonarda Carranza, Carolina Corcoran, Šari Dale, Marisol Diaz, Sarah Ens, Paola Ferrante, Katie Fewster-Yan, Hannah Hackney, Lori Hahnel, Natalie Homer, Liz Iversen, Jac Jenkins, Jaslyn Marshall, Laura McGavin, Emily McKibbon, Alessandra Naccarato, Ezi Odozor, Caitlin Prince, Rebecca Salazar, Ellie Sawatzky, Alysia Sawchyn, Farihah Aliyah Shah, Josephine Sloyan, Tanya R. Ward, jiaqing wilson-yang, Elana Wolff
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Interview Room
Samra Habib id here to talk about her memoir, "We Have Always Been Here," which follows Samra as she fights to free herself from various oppressive forces in her life, from faith to family to "straight expectations."
Jessica Johns is a nehiyaw aunty and member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta and is currently living, working, and learning on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. She is the new Managing Editor at Room and the former poetry editor for PRISM international, and is a co-organizer of the Indigenous Brilliance reading series in Vancouver. Listen to this episode to hear her conversation with Lit Mag Love host Rachel Thompson about working in close relationship with writers, and thinking through all your relationships.
Mica recently went to the Aritzia Warehouse Sale and it inspired her to think deeply about so-called basic bitches and whether or not this term can be reclaimed in a meaningful way (it can! probably!). Also discussed: sustainable clothing and the move towards radical transparency.
Reviews
Whatever, Iceberg chronicles an all-too-familiar queer romance interwoven with polyamory, single parenting, chronic pain, poverty, and aging. Despite the specificity of Ziniuk’s writing, the collection remains relatable for anyone who has ever been in a badly timed romance or burned by a lover.
While reading GG’s new graphic novel, I’m Not Here, I was reminded of a short story by Delmore Schwartz, in which the narrator goes into a cinema and, much to their amazement and dismay, f
Each of the fifteen stories, mostly populated by female protagonists at less-than-perfect moments in their lives, show the work of a generous writer committed to creating characters unapologetically being themselves in all their flawed, misguided glory.
Room with a View
Creative Non-Fiction Contest 2019: The Winners!
Congratulations to the following three writers, whose essays have been selected by our esteembed judge, Terese Marie Mailhot, as the winners and honourable mention for our 2019 Creative Non-Fiction Contest!
Creative Non-Fiction Contest 2019: The Longlisted Essays
You've waited long enough. Here are the thirteen longlisted essays from our 2019 Creative Non-Fiction Contest!
